SBC to Buy AT&T for $16 Billion

toant103

Lifer
Jul 21, 2001
10,514
1
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wow, if this goes through, no more ATT?

Local phone giant SBC Communications Inc. has agreed to acquire AT&T Corp. for roughly $16 billion in cash and stock, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.

Citing sources close to both companies, the newspaper reported on its Web site that the deal had been struck and that boards of both companies were planning votes Sunday afternoon. SBC spokesman Walt Sharp told The Associated Press he had "no information on anything of that nature."

"We do not comment on speculation," Sharp said.

AT&T spokesman Jim Byrnes told the AP the company does not comment on "what we consider to be rumors or speculation about mergers, acquisitions, or other business combinations."

AT&T shareholders would receive about $15 billion in SBC stock, plus a special dividend of $1 billion, the newspaper reported, citing its sources. AT&T Chief Executive David Dorman would become SBC's president, while Edward Whitacre Jr., would remain SBC's chairman and chief executive, the sources said. Dorman would join SBC's board, along with two other director spots for AT&T on the board.

Any such acquisition would be subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals.

San Antonio-based SBC is the nation's second-biggest regional phone company, with about 50 million local-telephone customers, mostly in the Midwest and South.

AT&T is a 120-year-old telephone icon once known as Ma Bell that handled the nation's telephone calls before it was broken apart 21 years ago. The Bedminster, N.J.-based company has nearly 30 million long-distance customers.
http://www.forbes.com/technolo...5/01/30/ap1791571.html
 
Aug 10, 2001
10,420
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This isn't exactly a mega-merger/acquisition, but regardless why do these big mergers/acquisitions continue to happen when they never seem to work?

 

NutBucket

Lifer
Aug 30, 2000
27,132
616
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The funny part is, I read AT&T was still going to sell wireless service under its own name but with Sprint products. Maybe that was just a rumor as I've heard nothing of the sort in quite a while.
 

Miramonti

Lifer
Aug 26, 2000
28,653
100
106
Originally posted by: Goosemaster
Cannibell ;)


lol.

In the animal world I've heard of a parent eating a child, but a child eating the one who gave birth to it? ewwww.
 

IGBT

Lifer
Jul 16, 2001
17,967
140
106
..when I had prob's wit my phone line I got better service from ATT then sbc..this may not be good.
 

Kniteman77

Platinum Member
Mar 15, 2004
2,917
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Originally posted by: Zim Hosein
wow, if this goes through, no more ATT?

My cell from AT&T already says Cingular, so AT&T is already history IMO :)

Likewise about the Cell thing, although it only happend like a week ago and they've supposedly owned the whole of AT&T Wireless for a while now.
 

zephyrprime

Diamond Member
Feb 18, 2001
7,512
2
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The funny thing is, when Ma Bell was broken up, SBC was one of the resultant pieces. So this is like one part of AT&T merging witht the other. I bet SBC will change it's name to AT&T.

Eventually, there will probably be only 3 telecom companies in the US: AT&T, Verizon, & Sprint.
 

thegimp03

Diamond Member
Jul 5, 2004
7,420
2
81
Man, I really hope this doesn't go through...it just makes phone service more of a monopoly for gigantic companies so they can charge whatever they want...argh..
 

KK

Lifer
Jan 2, 2001
15,903
4
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Originally posted by: zephyrprime
The funny thing is, when Ma Bell was broken up, SBC was one of the resultant pieces. So this is like one part of AT&T merging witht the other. I bet SBC will change it's name to AT&T.

Eventually, there will probably be only 3 telecom companies in the US: AT&T, Verizon, & Sprint.

The new name will be SBT&T. :)